Assignment task:
It is important to examine the history of policing in the United States to understand how it has progressed and changed over time. Adjustments to the purpose, duties, and structure of American police agencies have allowed the profession to evolve from ineffective watch groups to police agencies that incorporate advanced technology and problem-solving strategies into their daily operations.
In short, the American policing model was influenced by Sir Robert Peel and the London Metropolitan Police. Policing in the United States originated in Colonial America and consisted of voluntary watch groups formed by citizens; these groups were unorganized and considered ineffective. As part of the colonial period slave patrols in the southern region of the United States were used to control slave populations and have been identified by some scholars and historians as the first formal police agencies in the country. As policing progressed, politics began playing a major role in the 1800s. The political involvement at the time was believed to be at the core of police corruption present in the agencies; some police agencies today still suffer from political meddling. Police reform was intended to make the police more " professional" and free from politics.
American policing continues to evolve and relies on the principles espoused by Sir Robert Peel as he began to assemble the London Metropolitan Police Department.
Q1. Identify the 5 most important principles that you believe are still applicable to modern U.S. policing.
Q2. Explain how the traditional model of policing contributed to the deterioration of the relationship between police and citizens in the United States during the 1960s.
Q3. Of the 5 Peelian principles you identified, pick 3 that had police departments in the 1960s adopted they may have been able to avoid the riots.